Suspicious plane lands off Coastal road

By BBN Staff: Belizean authorities yesterday confirmed that a suspicious plane landed in Belize on Monday night but could not definitively say it was a drug plane.

Hattieville police received reports of a low flying airplane near the Coastal Road in the vicinity of the La Democracia community.However, when they arrived in the area, they found no plane and no drugs. What they did find was 20 drums of which 4 were empty and the other 16 filled with aviation fuel.

Police also found makeshift landing lights, batteries, canvases and two seats in the area.

We were told that this was the same area where an unauthorized and illegal airstrip was created some time ago by drug transporters.

According to ACP Edward Broaster, at around 7:00 a.m.on Tuesday he dispatched the anti-narcotic unit as well as the mobile interdiction unit team and some BDF soldiers to comb the area where the discovery was made.

“From the initial investigation it appears that a plane landed and they took out the seats we believe to make provisions for whatever cargo they were transporting. Because the seats were taken out the plane, we believe they picked up cargo at that location,” he said.However, he quickly clarified, “We have no clue as to what kind of illicit cargo that was.”

According to Broaster, the unauthorized landing of planes is not a new phenomenon.

“This is a problem that persists throughout the region. It’s not just Belize. There are a lot of illicit landing in Guatemala, Honduras, all around us and it’s just a challenge for our law enforcement to garner intelligence as to exactly where the next plane would be touching down and that’s something that is very difficult,” he said.

He revealed that the airstrip where the discovery was made had been previously destroyed by police but, “it was repaired to be reused.”

Police intend to increase patrol in the area to reduce the chances of another suspicious plane land.

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